Excel filter search wildcard. You may need to tweak the logic a little bit.

Excel filter search wildcard Apr 23, 2015 · Is there a way to use an Excel auto filter, whereby you set a predefined list of values to filter by, and it will return all the cells in a column that contain that phrase? For example imagine the Understanding Wildcard Characters Wildcard characters are special symbols that represent one or more characters in a search query. Note: ~? finds a literal question mark. The asterisk (*) matches any number of characters, while the question mark (?) matches a single character. Aug 1, 2024 · Discover the power of wildcards in Excel! Our comprehensive guide covers how to use them to enhance your data searches and streamline your spreadsheet tasks. Benefits of using Wildcards in Excel: Utilizing wildcards can lead to time-saving and efficiency in searching for data. Jan 6, 2020 · Wildcard represents one or more other characters. Aug 23, 2022 · Unfortunately, Excel’s Filter function does not perform partial-match or wildcard searches. com *-uat. It displays the Advanced Filter dialog box instead of the AutoFilter menu. Jul 20, 2020 · I would like to use the Filter function with wildcards, as shown below. However, if you use wildcards with a number, you'll convert the numeric value to a text value. Mar 14, 2023 · The tutorial shows how to make Excel IF statement with wildcard text and get it to work for partial matches. Wildcard lookups and include or exclude criteria - Excel 365 The image above shows an Excel 365 formula that extracts records from a data set located on sheet2 based on criteria specified in cells B3:E5. See FILTER text contains and Cell contains specific text for a more complete explanation. We will learn how to perform partial matches and search for specific patterns within a dataset. Learn simple tips and advanced techniques to save time and improve accuracy. You will learn what wildcards are, how to use them effectively in various Excel functions, best practices, and troubleshooting tips to enhance your productivity. Dec 29, 2023 · If you know how your search value starts or ends, but not sure about what's in between, you can find that with a wildcard search in Excel. A wildcard is a special character that lets you perform "fuzzy" matching on text in your Excel formulas. Learn how to apply it to your work. Apr 9, 2025 · 2. Feb 20, 2025 · Discover how to efficiently search and select multiple items in Excel filters. Wildcard characters represent text or numeric values and are useful for finding multiple records with similar information or if you don't remember exact search values. Oct 3, 2019 · Try the following as your criteria: ="=*-1" This would work because we can mix up a wildcard with these logical operators as described as below to check for an exact match: Feb 20, 2023 · FILTER function with wildcards / partial text strings in Excel | Excel On The Go Excel Off The Grid 58. Feb 6, 2025 · I want to filter an array (a single line) using XMATCH to return columns based on wildcard criteria. I have viewed this question (although it pertains to Google Sheets) and tried it but I failed. ~* finds a literal asterisk. May 14, 2024 · Explanation Excel supports the wildcard characters "*" and "?", and these wildcards can be used to perform partial (substring) matches in various lookup formulas. Jan 19, 2015 · Excel's custom AutoFilter allows you to use wildcards in your search enabling filtering for specific characters. 61K subscribers Subscribed Learn how to use Excel filters with wildcards to find partial matches in data, making it easy to search dynamically with the ISNUMBER and SEARCH functions. May 12, 2025 · Wildcards in Microsoft Excel let you search for partial matches, broaden your filters, and create formulas that reference cells containing certain strings. Practice makes perfect. Jun 4, 2025 · The Excel XMATCH function performs a lookup and returns a position of a value in a range. XMATCH supports approximate and exact matching, reverse search, and wildcards (* ?) for partial matches. In this section, we’ll cover the available wildcards, for example, wildcard usage and functions that support wildcards. However, it doesn't allow the use of wildcards for partial matches. Mar 14, 2023 · Everything you need to know about wildcards: what wildcard characters Excel recognizes, and how to best use them with built-in features and in formulas with text and numbers. I am able to create the formula without XMATCH wildcards. They represent non-specified characters to help you locate text values with "fuzzy" matches. Find Anything in Excel I FILTER Function with Wildcards Explained I Fastech Computer Academy IWant to filter text dynamically in Excel—even when you don’t kn Now search in search box using the * (asterisk) wildcard. Use wildcard characters as comparison criteria for text filters and when you're searching and replacing content. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. They allow users to represent one or more characters when searching for specific patterns within text or data. And we need to find the fields where the phrase AT is present anywhere in the code. SEARCH and MATCH do have the wildcard behaviour that you expect but none seem to work fine with FILTER. This comprehensive guide aims to demystify wildcards in Excel for beginners, intermediate users, and advanced users alike. Pivot Table allows you to filter by text wildcard characters and make your filtering dynamic. FILTER is a power dynamic array function which you need to know. The issue is with the lookup being a # that is format to general. 3K subscribers Subscribe Jun 22, 2025 · Wildcard in Excel – Full Guide with Examples for Beginners to Experts Learn how to use wildcard in Excel like a pro. There will also be solutions covering case sensitivity. ~ (tilde) is used as an escape character to treat the wildcard characters as . Jul 15, 2024 · While working in Excel sheets, sometimes you need to use wildcards for many purposes. Sep 4, 2021 · With wildcards in Excel, you can narrow down your search in spreadsheets. If you’re an Excel user, you’ve probably heard of wildcards. In contrast, the tilde is the identification of the wild card character. Nov 11, 2025 · In this article, you will learn how to use Advanced Filter with Wildcard in Excel with 3 easy examples including Asterisk, Tilde symbol. Understanding how to effectively utilize wildcard in Excel and significantly enhance productivity by enabling flexible and dynamic data handling within spreadsheets. Feb 12, 2025 · Learn how to search for literal asterisks in Excel. With a bit of creativity, you will learn in this article how to perform “Begins With”, “Ends With”, “Contains”, and “Does Not Contain” search criteria, so that you can carry out more complex filtering with your dynamic array formulas. Feb 25, 2021 · I have a spreadsheet where a number of entries are prefixed with a character also used as an Excel wildcard: *. Apr 22, 2021 · Hi All, Is it possible to filter a pivot table based on a columns values if the values in question is a wildcard string? See the attached. Wildcards in Excel are the special Excel characters that take the place of the characters in it. Note: download the Excel file and give it a try. Attache is the excel file. Find and Replace Partial Matches 4. In the example shown, the formula in G7 is: =FILTER (Table1,ISNUMBER (SEARCH (H4,Table1 [Last]))* (H4""),"No results") where Table1 is an Excel Table that contains 100 rows of data in B5:E104. For more about using wildcard characters with the Find and Replace features in Excel, see Find or replace text and numbers on a worksheet. Wildcards are special characters that allow you to perform “fuzzy” matching on text in your formulas. Jul 29, 2025 · Trying to use either xlookup or index/match look up % from table with using wildcards on the lookup value. Contain Use *bc* to find all cells that contain "bc". Mar 26, 2019 · To use wildcards in Excel filters, simply type the wildcard character along with your search term in the filter field. Excel has three wildcards: an asterisk, question mark, and tilde. Jun 28, 2023 · Similar Threads Filter function with wildcard and multiple search values By Mr Stern 2 in forum Excel Formulas & Functions Replies: 2 Last Post: 06-29-2022, 09:05 AM In Microsoft Excel, wildcards are powerful tools used in searches, filtering, and data manipulation tasks. Jan 11, 2022 · But as @Anonymous suggested the wildcard filter are not available directly in power query, maybe we can use it with dax if you can share your pbix or data in excel for me to try. One of the underrated features that every Excel user—from beginner to advanced—should master 4 days ago · Learn how to extract specific text in Excel using LEFT, RIGHT, MID, TEXTBEFORE/AFTER, FIND, SEARCH, SUBSTITUTE, and delimiter-based formulas. Question Apr 18, 2020 · This video shows an example of the FILTER Function in Excel with a "wildcard" or "partial" match. subdomain. Among these features, the ability to use wildcards in search and filter functions stands out for its versatility and utility. ? (question mark) represents a single character. Nov 17, 2025 · Excel, the powerful spreadsheet software from Microsoft, offers a wide range of tools and features to help users manage, analyze, and visualize data. The workaround: *Can also use SEARCH instead of FIND when case does not matter. Discover how to use wildcards in Excel to find and analyze data with partial information. You can use the row label filter and enter the text with wildcards to get the desired result. Discover practical examples using *, ?, and ~ in filtering, VLOOKUP (), and more. Oct 6, 2022 · This tutorial explains how to use wildcard characters in an Excel FILTER function, including examples. com I'd like to use a text filter to find all the Aug 15, 2024 · In this article, i have demonstrated two methods including Find and Replace & Filter option in excel find * character not wildcard. Feb 22, 2023 · Excel's FILTER function sieves a set of data based on defined criteria. For example: * (asterisk) represents any number of characters. Asterisk is used for multiple numbers of characters in Excel, while a question mark represents only a single character. These can also be used in the Conditional Formatting rules that use the "Only format cells that contain specific text" criteria. I basically want to filter the Name column with anything containing "test1". This Tutorial Covers: Excel Wildcard Characters – An Introduction Excel Wildcard Characters – Examples #1 Filter Data using Excel Wildcard Characters #2 Partial Lookup Using Wildcard Characters & VLOOKUP 3. XMATCH with wildcard (exchanged order Jun 4, 2025 · The SEARCH function automatically performs a substring search and supports wildcards directly if you need more flexibility. Cells B4:E4 allow you to include or exclude specific conditions using drop down lists. May 9, 2023 · How to Search for Wildcards in Excel: Searching for wildcards in Excel is easy by using the Find and Replace tool. They allow you to perform flexible and versatile searches, matching patterns rather than exact values. A missing condition (blank) in cells B5:E5 is not used into the calculation, in other words, it is Nov 21, 2023 · The objective of this tutorial is to show how to use wildcards with the XLOOKUP and FILTER functions in Excel. It is a more robust and flexible successor to the MATCH function. Also learn how to use wildcards in formulas and how to use wildcards in filters. Here, I will show you how to use wildcards in Excel. In this guide, we're going to show you how to use Wildcard criteria in Excel formulas. For example, this formula: Jan 27, 2023 · This post shows how to use and master the FILTER function in Excel. Type *A in the search box and select the required values or select the (Select All search result) option as shown in the above gif. Here we discuss how to use the three types of wildcards with examples and downloadable excel template. Wildcard characters are special Aug 4, 2021 · Using Excel’s Wildcards with the FILTER Function ExcelSmith 1. They can be used directly in the quick filter and auto filter, in the extended search, including for a search and replace, and also in the formulas. Jan 7, 2019 · Excel wildcard characters Three Microsoft Excel wildcard characters are available for filtering: ? for one character, * for zero or more characters, and ~ to escape a wildcard. You may need to tweak the logic a little bit. Count Non-blank Cells that Contain Text Nov 20, 2022 · This simple and easy guide will teach you how to use wildcard in FILTER function in Excel. Here's how to use these characters in filters, searches, and formulas. example. Guide to Wildcard In Excel. May 27, 2020 · In this blog, we would learn what are the wildcard characters and how can you use the wildcard characters in Excel to filter your data or do a partial Vlookup and many more exciting things. Feb 18, 2020 · StuLux23 It doesn't appear wildcards are supported with FILTER (Maybe added at a later date?). IF function with wildcards Here we have company codes on one side. You can use them to find and replace text, match patterns, and more. 5 days ago · Microsoft Excel expert shows FILTER with wildcards using BYROW XMATCH and REGEXTEST to replace SEARCH and dynamic arrays Wildcards in Microsoft Excel let you search for partial matches, broaden your filters, and create formulas that reference cells containing certain strings. Users can also use wildcards in conjunction with filters to get more specific search results. You type the advanced criteria in a separate criteria range on the worksheet and above the range of cells or table that you want to filter. 6 days ago · The Excel FILTER function is a powerful tool for extracting rows based on conditions, but advanced techniques like SEARCH, XMATCH with BYROW, and REGEXMATCH enhance its wildcard filtering May 30, 2025 · Excel Wildcard Characters: A Guide with Examples Learn how Excel's wildcard characters enhance flexibility in search, replace, and formula logic. ~~ finds a literal tilde. Unlock new efficiency and precision in your spreadsheet tasks today. Excel is an incredibly powerful tool, but its true magic lies in its flexibility. Explore symbols like *, ?, and ~ with real-world use cases in COUNTIF, VLOOKUP, SEARCH, and more. This is achieved by inserting two other functions (ISNUMBE Overview of advanced filter criteria The Advanced command works differently from the Filter command in several important ways. Microsoft Office Excel uses the separate criteria Apr 1, 2025 · Why Do We Need to Escape Characters in Excel? Excel uses some characters, including *, ?, and ~, as wildcards in functions like SEARCH, MATCH, and FILTER. Apr 5, 2023 · To use select records from a set of data based on a partial match, you can use the FILTER function with the SEARCH function. How can i make it work? Aug 30, 2024 · To learn all about using wildcard characters in Excel, continue reading the guide below. Discover tips to find, count, and filter special characters easily with our step-by-step guide. In Excel, there are two main wildcard characters you can use: Asterisk (*): Represents any number of characters (including zero characters).